


Recollections

by NoodleTiger



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Kinda, Unrequited Love, all the soppy feelings, any time before episode 4, chloe talking about rachel, feels everywhere, max is sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-19
Updated: 2015-08-19
Packaged: 2018-04-15 15:52:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4612527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoodleTiger/pseuds/NoodleTiger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em> “…They all loved her,” Chloe suddenly starts again. “Everybody loved her. I… I loved her especially. There were times when it was just us against the world, and she was mine. But then… she disappeared and… everything went with her. It’s like I’m the only one who remembers.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Max asks Chloe what Rachel was like. Then she wishes she hadn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Recollections

**Author's Note:**

> I had the sudden urge to write this fic, and hey it helped pass the evening before GCSE results day OTL. I am also working on the next IMLH chapter, just had a hectic month + fight scenes. SO MANY FIGHT SCENES.  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this! I needed to get some Pricefield/Rachel Amber feels out, so here they are!

 “Chloe, what was Rachel like?”

 They’re sitting on Chloe’s bed, the sun low in the sky, when Max blurts out the question. Chloe’s been quiet, calm, until Max speaks. Suddenly her head shoots up and she stares at Max with wide, surprised eyes. She looks somewhat panicked.

 “I mean, only if you’re okay with it,” Max rushes to correct. “It’s just that I’ve only heard bits and pieces about her and even then they aren’t from reliable sources. Everyone around here knows Rachel but me… So, if I’m going to learn about her, it should probably be from you, right? If that’s… okay…” She trails off, feeling stupider by the second.

 ‘Maybe I should just rewind that,’ Max thinks to herself. Chloe obviously doesn’t want to talk about it and Max doesn’t want to alienate her either; she just got Chloe back, she’s not going to lose her now. Better to focus on the present than the missing girl who Max is 99% sure has stolen her best friend’s heart.

 Max begins to raise her hand to rewind when Chloe shifts on the bed, shaking her head and moving to face Max. “You mean ‘what _is_ Rachel like?’ And it’s okay, Max. It’s not like she’s some dirty little secret or anything. I think about her enough, so it’s not like you’re putting me through any more torture.”

 The comment is supposed to be joking, of course Chloe doesn’t mean it, but it makes Max’s chest ache. She chuckles half-heartedly, not meeting Chloe’s eyes.

 Chloe doesn’t notice. All too soon, she’s turned time back and is reliving all her memories, a fond smile on her face. Eventually, Chloe begins, “Rachel… is the sun. She’s so goddam bouncy, I mean she could probably light up a prison cell if she tried. And despite how baffling her positivity is at times, Rachel always brightens my day, no matter what shit is happening.” Chloe laughs huskily, glancing down, rubbing her left wrist.

 “She’s really smart too. She offered to tutor me, even do my homework for me, while I was at Blackwell but I couldn’t care less. Oh, she could ramble on to me for hours about English Lit. And star-signs. God, she really believes that stuff. It find it hilarious half the time… Other people think it’s deep.”

Chloe pauses, lost in her own world. Max takes the moment to look, really look. She notices how distant Chloe’s eyes look, and how a smile is twitching at the side of her lips. She notices every little intricate detail in Chloe’s tattoo, snaking down her arm, from every flower and to every vine. She notices how Chloe’s blue nails are chipped, in a desperate need of a new coat. She notices how the setting sun makes the room feel warm and makes Chloe look like she’s _glowing_.

“…They all loved her,” Chloe abruptly starts again. “ _Everybody_ loved her. I… I loved her especially. There were times when it was just us against the world, and she was _mine._ But then… she disappeared and… everything went with her. It’s like I’m the only one who remembers.”

 And the sharp pain in Max’s chest is back, but this time it’s like she’s been stabbed. Chloe’s not looking at her, she can’t see Max’s face drop, her heart shatter, as she realises how little of a chance she really has.

 Chloe isn’t hers. She never will be. Max lost that privilege when she moved away and left Rachel to pick up all the pieces.

 But when Chloe eventually does turn back, looking so hopeful, Max can’t help but feebly smile back at her. “But now, I have my partner in crime back! The old Super-Max! Soon we’ll be the golden trio or the three musketeers together or some shit because, man, Rachel will love you. So, wherever she is, we’ll find her together, right?”

 Max feels as if she’s about to cry. Still contemplating on whether she should just rewind the whole conversation, Max churns out a reply. It’s one that Chloe finds satisfactory as she then returns to what she was doing before Max spoke in the first place.

 Leaving Max with her thoughts. She sits with the silence for a while, with the sunset, and just watches Chloe.

 How she regrets moving away from Arcadia Bay.

 In the end, Max decides not to rewind.

 

 After that, Max asks lots of questions about Rachel.

 What’s her favourite book? (Pride and Prejudice.)

 Does she get on with her parents? (No. They don’t like Chloe either.)

 What does her laugh sound like? (Bells.)

 When did they meet? (When Chloe was 14, in chemistry. They were lab partners.)

 Did they get their tattoos together? (Yes. Rachel got the dragon when Chloe got her tattoo.)

 What are her photos like? (Beautiful, but not like Max’s; those are special.)

 Max found herself asking the questions at quiet intervals, when the conversation died or when she needed a topic change. Chloe always responded happily, always willing to relive her glory days.

 It got to a point, however, when even Chloe was suspicious by her curiosity; the questions were endless and just kept coming.

 “Not that I’m not flattered, Max, but why are you so curious about Rachel?” She says as they stroll through the town, her hands in her pockets.

 ‘To scope out my competition,’ is what Max thinks to herself, but responds with the half-true answer instead.

 “I dunno,” she shrugs. “I guess everyone talks about her but I never knew Rachel in person, so it’s hard to contextualise at times. Asking you questions is the closest I can get right now to asking her herself. I guess I want to understand why everyone – why you – care about her so much.”

  She almost doesn’t add, “From what you’ve said, she—she sounds great…” but finds herself barely stuttering it out in time, just to see Chloe’s face light up.

 Chloe is satisfied with her answer, and starts rambling again, excited and determined. Max tries to tune out slightly but fails and is left nodding numbly.

 It’s not like she _doesn’t_ want to know about Rachel. _She’s_ been the one asking the questions. It’s… hard sometimes, listening to the answers.

 Max wants to find Rachel, just like Chloe does, but Chloe doesn’t just _want_ to find her, she _needs_ to. Max has to remind herself that.

She realises in the end why she asks all the questions. To make herself _suffer_. Max doesn’t deserve Chloe. She abandoned her. (In some twisted logic, she realises that Rachel abandoned Chloe too but that’s not the point.) Max needs to remind herself that Chloe’s heart belongs to Rachel now, not her. By asking the questions, Max remembers this.

 Max screwed everything up and she’s not going to let Rachel do it too.

 So she’ll run around Arcadia Bay with Chloe and save her over and over, because Chloe needs Rachel, and that means Max needs her too. 

**Author's Note:**

> Again, thank you for reading and if you enjoyed it please leave a comment or a kudos! It's much appreciated!  
> Thanks again and hope you enjoyed it! :D


End file.
